Preston Holden

Arbovirus Hemagglutinin Inhibitor in Acetone-Extracted Serums from Normal Chickens

A highly selective hemagglutinin inhibitor in serums from adult female chickens appears to be activated during extraction of the serum with acetone for removal of the usual lipid inhibitors. The acetone-insoluble inhibitor may be removed by filtration of the serum through Seitz pads. The precursor of the inhibitor in raw serum can be precipitated by two methods of removing euglobulins from solution.

Nesting Activity of the House Sparrow in Hale County, Texas, During 1968

Nestling House Sparrows, Passer domesticus, are involved in the amplification of western encephalitis (WE) virus activity in Hale County, Texas, during the epidemic season (Hayes et al., 1961 \ Holden et al, 1973a). Experimental studies (Holden et al., 1973b) have shown that nestlings of this species are admirably suited for this role since they may circulate virus in the bloodstream for several days at concentrations sufficient for infecting vector mosquitoes. Information on the nesting activity and reproductive capacity of the House Sparrow in Hale County is requisite to an understanding of the seasonal dynamics of WE virus activity in the area; therefore, the present study was undertaken.

Western encephalitis with recovery of virus from cerebrospinal fluid

THE FIRST RECOVERY of western encephalitis (WE) virus from human beings was reported in 1938 by Howitt,l who made the isolation from brain. In the same report, she referred to a single isolation in 1934 from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Since then, WE virus has been recovered on numerous occasions from brain tissues, but to our knowledge only three other reports2-4 of isolations of WE virus from human CSF have appeared in the literature. We are reporting two additional cases where isolations of WE v i rus were made from CSF obtained during the acute phase of the patients’ illnesses. Virus was also isolated from the brain of one of these patients.